Must be nice to be able to get them outside at all. I have only been able to get mine out three or four afternoons so far. I guess you a from the south. You mention 100+ degrees. It basically never hits 100 up here. Our warmest month up here is July and the average high in July is only 82. My problem is having it warm up enough to put them outside for the summer. It is supposed to get below freezing this weekend. Looks like you use a fairly similar mix to mine. I use pine mulch finely ground, Perlite and garden soil in a 5-1-1 ratio.

Thanks for the pics. Your soil looks great. It was 32 degrees here this morning. I can't put stuff in the ground until after Mother's day. Mid-May seems like a long way off.

Yep, it is basically the 5-1-1. The Redwood was heavily composted and the potting soil was fairly low in peat so I am curious to see how it performs. The drainage and porosity are improved immensely over what I had them in before, I can tell that much after 1 watering.

I live in north-central CA, dry and hot in summer. I am about 45 minutes from the mecca of vegetable gardens known as the Napa Valley. but it is over a mountain range and it gets straight up HOT over here, near Sacramento.

Looks great, Phil!
Thanks for the photo updates! You and Esox are going to be pleased with the mixes
you've put together. And, next year, you'll probably refine it further...being able to
reflect back on this season, and adjust the texture for the moisture that you need.
I, personally, am always on the lookout for a good bark product...
when I find it, I buy several bags for stockpiling.

I'm in the foothills above Auburn, about 35 miles northeast of Sacramento....
yeah, it gets HOT alright.

Josh

Josh, I am really glad to hear an expert like yourself is doing it in a similar climate. I am in Davis, and we have nearly identical summer weather to Auburn. Although my uncle lives up above Georgetown in the foothills, and it is much cooler there.

How hot is it where you are growing during summer? And do you modify your 5-1-1 for the heat? Or do you provide partial shade when it gets up there?

Last year I grew a few peppers in the ground, but they were Jalapenos and Reds which I know handle heat well. This year I have some wildcards, and I was going to pick up a bunch more but the nursery I have been calling for WEEKS waiting on peppers...well they had a big sale this last sunday and sold out of every hot pepper variety...from Jamaican Hot Chocolate to Spanish Spice...100% gone.

Do you happen to know a good source for a few transplants around here?

thanks!

Howdy!
I did a year at U.C. Davis....the pollen and the humidity were intense ;-)
The farmer's market should have a nice selection of plants.

During the Summer, the temps range between 85F and 95F for the most part here,
but we always have a couple weeks of 100F+ weather....those weeks are awful.
I'm at 1600 feet elevation, so I don't quite get the higher elevation cooling effect.

You guessed it - containers are moved into shade (mosaic sun) during the hot spells.
I find that peppers don't really need full, unobstructed sun - just a few hours direct.
I don't actually use any peat moss in my mixes - I use pumice and turface, which
maintain structure far better. I'd rather water more often than have collapsing
soil in the root-zone.

I agree that it's great to have some "local" growers, so that we can compare notes
and increase the knowledge base for others in our dry climate.

Josh